KELOWNA, BC – It was the climax of the weekend when the Columbia Bible College Bearcats squared off against the top seeded Heat in a battle for Provincial Gold. The Heat prevailed in the end, securing the Gold Medal at the BCCAA Championships after winning 3 sets to 1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 25-17). Mark Broome was named the Player of the Match for the Heat, finishing with 9 kills, and repeatedly encouraging his teammates on the court while pumping up the crowd, in turn fuelling the team to victory. Rookie Will Quiring of the Bearcats was named Player of the Match for his team, finishing with a team-high 10 kills along with 8 digs.
A near record turnout showed for the big event when the men’s teams took to the court. The Heat put on a show as they always do, with high fliers like Nate Speijer and Greg Niemantsverdriet pounding down on the Bearcats. The overwhelming offense was enough to win the 1st set 25-19, but nerves and the pumping adrenaline got to the Heat as they began over-firing, causing errors and easy mistakes that allowed the Bearcats to eventually snatch the second set. According to Starting Middle Chris Howe of the Heat, their problem was “Control. Because it was a home game, we wanted to punt the ball as hard as we could. Then Greg [Poitras] pulled us in, timeout, and told us to just control the ball. We got back in the game, and went back to pounding the ball right.”
After re-adjusting their focus, the Heat were able to dispatch the Bearcats with relative ease in the 3rd set. The Bearcats weren’t done yet though, trading blows with the Heat for much of the 4th, until Nate Speijer, driven by chants of “Speijer! Speijer!” from the Heat fans in the crowd, went on a scoring tear, tallying 6 of the last 7 Heat points, five of which were off of exceptional serves. Up 24-17, Speijer had the opportunity to finish it off of a serve but made a service error, after which CBC misfired a serve of their own to solidify the Heat victory.
The Bearcats were a surprising 3rd seed, improving drastically over the last month and a half of League Play, earning Head Coach Rocky Olfert the BCCAA Coach of the Year award. “We weren’t expecting them [the Bearcats] in the Final,” Howe went on. “They improved a lot over the season. When they came out, they came out strong.” The BC conference of the CCAA received the Wild Cards for both the Men’s and Women’s teams, meaning that both the Gold and Silver medalists will be advancing to the CCAA Championships. “We’re glad to be going to Nationals with them. They’re going to be a great partner to go and represent BC.”
Looking forward to Nationals, Howe said one of the most important things will be “Speed. We want to really work on speed because it’s something that’s going to beat everyone. Once you get to Nationals, everything is about pace.”
Tonight marked the last time Heat Volleyball will appear at home this season. The road to the ultimate prize is not yet over, but before the next leg of the journey, it’s time to celebrate. “We’re going out tonight,” Howe said with smiles. “It’s all about keeping the team together and celebrating the Gold as a team…it was every single person [on the team] who brought it all together.”
The CCAA Championships are being hosted by Cégep de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec from March 10-12.
Box Score Attached.
The Men’s tournament All Star Team: Greg Niemantsverdriet, UBC Okanagan; Chris Howe, UBC Okanagan; Preston Tucker, UBC Okanagan; Matt Kaminski, CBC; Will Quiring, CBC; Jason Warkentin, CBC.
The Men’s tournament MVP: Nate Speijer, UBC Okanagan.
For live webcasts and game results go to: goheat.ca/volleyball
No comments:
Post a Comment